When the pandemic reshapes their lives in Amsterdam, three graduate students find themselves straddling the line between ambition and survival. Their algae research, once a source of purpose, becomes a pressure chamber none of them expected. As late‑night arguments blur into long silences, the trio must confront the quiet truths that surface only when life slows to a halt. In the shrinking space between fear, friendship, and the unraveling no one wants to name, they begin to learn that resilience isn't a straight line.

|18+| Taylor was supposed to be the one thing Finn could never have. Then desperation made them onlyfans partners-and feelings made everything messy. ... Finn has spent years pretending he isn't hopelessly in love with his best friend. It's a game he's gotten very good at playing. Smile when Taylor talks about girls. Ignore the way his heart races whenever Taylor throws an arm around his shoulders. Pretend friendship is enough. Then everything falls apart. Cut off financially and drowning in college expenses, Finn is desperate for a way to stay afloat. What starts as a quick solution soon becomes a secret life he's determined to keep hidden-especially from Taylor. But secrets never stay secret for long. When Taylor accidentally discovers what Finn has been doing, ignoring the revealed secret should be the obvious choice. Instead, Taylor asks to join him. With his sister's medical bills piling up and no other options in sight, Taylor convinces himself it's only business. Just a way to make money. Just a game. No feelings. No complications. No chance of ruining the friendship that means everything to both of them. The problem is that the longer they play, the harder it becomes to remember where the act ends and the truth begins. Because Taylor's touches don't feel fake. His jealousy doesn't feel fake. And the way he looks at Finn definitely doesn't feel fake. For years, Finn dreamed about Taylor wanting him back. Now that it might actually be happening, he's terrified of losing the one person he can't imagine living without. After all, every game has winners and losers. And neither of them is ready for what happens when somebody finally changes

Sell-out stadium shows, private jets, adoring fans. Award-winning rappers enjoy life. Not newbie rapper Kit Marlowe. With a few minor awards under his belt, all Kit has ever wanted is to make music, but his synesthesia -- the ability to see sounds -- confines him to his grandmother's annex apartment and to his small circle of trusted musical friends. When the boss of Kit's record label dies in mysterious circumstances, Kit plunges deep into Maria City's sprawling gang underworld to uncover the truth behind his death, but both his sleuthing and his fledgling music career are threatened by Mack, cantankerous drummer for the world's biggest metal band, and Kit's bitterest musical rival. Inked, pierced and too uncouth for Kit's sensitivities, Mack clashes head-to-head with him for the title of Best Band at the world-famous ARIA Music Awards, until Kit realizes that Mack has a profound and beautiful effect on his synesthesia. As the killer takes another victim, Kit finds himself struggling to separate his music life from his personal life as he and Mack become entangled with the murder case, and with each other. 12 June: Changed this to MATURE because this book now has a content warning: contains depictions of sexual intercourse. Chapters with this content are marked with 🌶️ .

Avery has never known what it is like to be loved. His entire life until now has been a repeating cycle of abuse from his parents, but he was finally able to break free from their prison. Now that he is free to live the life of a normal teenager, he has a lot of adjusting to do: adjusting to going to a public school, adjusting to a being in a foster family, and adjusting to having new friends. All of it together can be overwhelming, but he is doing his best to live the life of any other teenager. Dominik, on the other hand, has known love. They knew it very well, but it was taken from them by the cruel hands of death. They now live every day going through the motions, trying to act happy, but deep down, they're lost without their first love by their side. They are constantly haunted by the thoughts of having to live the rest of their life without seeing them ever again. They shut out the possibility of making new friends, in fear of losing them too. But, what will happen when these two meet, considering the boy who's never known love, looks eerily similar to Dominik's first love? ***THIS IS A REWRITE OF A STORY I WROTE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, ITS VERY CHEESY BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY***